Authorship and Photography Copyright Notice : Satya Sarada Kandula : All Rights Reserved.
Bol Bam! Bam Bole!
Bam Bam Bam Bole!
Photo Credit : Satya Sarada Kandula : All Rights Reserved
Our travel season was dictated by VTU, so we landed in Haridwar during Sawan or the Monsonn season. This year the rains were late, so all we faced were light drizzles of rain. But there was a huge host of devotees from UP, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and wherever else. the unofficial number was 1.5 lakhs. Sravana Masa had not yet started by the South Indian Calendar which starts months with the new moon. So we had no idea about the wonderful surprise we were in for.
With the lovely orange T-shirts printed with Shiva pictures, orange shorts and little black money belts, wearing bells on their feet, drenched alternately with Ganga water and their own sweat from the unbearably hot weather, in high spirits chanting Bam Bam Bole, addressing each other as “Bhole”, the “Kavad Log” filled all the standing space in Haridwar and Rishikesh. They trekked or jeeped till Neelakanth where Ganga turns blue because of the poison that Siva swallowed and held in his throat. Then they collected water at Har Ki Pauri or Vishnu’s feet at Haridwar. They carried the water in two pots tied to 2 ends of a stick or bow, decorated in the brightest and shiniest of paper and plastic.
Photograph Credit : Satya Sarada Kandula: All Rights Reserved
Once the water is collected they walk back all the way to their village/state or to Meerut where there is a temple of Pura Siva. They do a Siva-Abhishekam with Ganga water thus carried on the 20th of this month. (*Check North Indian Calendar for significance). The more devout do not wear slippers on their trek back of 300 km or more.
Students get a 1 month holiday for Sawan and almost everything else comes to a stand still.
Even a quiet place like Rishikesh is full of policemen and women. To get anywhere, you have to do a 5 km one way trek crossing the Lakshman Jhula and the Ram Jhula. Even the road routes of the govt. buses between Rishikesh and Haridwar are changed, let alone the walking and auto routes. Of course boating across the Ganga near the Ram Jhula was still an option.
Photo Credit: Satya Sarada Kandula : All Rights Reserved
The mood is so infectious that by the time we had been there a week, we too were yelling, Rang Rang Rang Bole! wearing bells on our feet and orange shirts. It was an unforgettable experience!
Authorship and Photography Copyright Notice : Satya Sarada Kandula : All Rights Reserved.
